A hate incident is any incident that the person affected, or anyone else, believes was motivated by hostility or prejudice because of disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity. It can be directed at a person, group, property or online content.
A hate incident does not have to be a criminal offence to be reported. When an offence has been committed and is motivated by hostility or prejudice, it may be recorded and investigated as a hate crime.
Examples include verbal abuse, harassment, bullying, threats, physical attacks, criminal damage, abusive messages, online abuse, graffiti, hate mail and damage to property.
If you are in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise, you can report to the police on 101 or use Report + Support.
Discrimination is unfair treatment because of a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. These characteristics include age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
Direct discrimination is when someone is treated less favourably because of a protected characteristic.
Indirect discrimination is when a rule, policy or practice that applies to everyone puts people who share a protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage, unless it can be objectively justified (the rule must be fair, necessary and there must be no less unfair way to achieve the same outcome.)
Discrimination can also occur because someone is perceived to have a protected characteristic, or because they are associated with someone who has one.
We encourage you to report any incident that concerns you. You can access support through Report + Support even where the behaviour may not meet the legal definition of discrimination.
The University of Kent uses Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) to ensure that it does not inadvertently create indirect discrimination. EIAs test how a new process, development, idea or procedure will impact different groups of individuals with protected characteristics and are developed in consultation with those groups. They act like equality risk assessments.
Discrimination can also happen in the following ways:
- Discrimination by perception is where the conduct or behaviour is based on the perception that an individual has a protected characteristic.
- Discrimination by association is where an individual is treated less favourably because of that person’s association with another individual who has a protected characteristic.
In higher education, some concerns about teaching and curriculum content may also involve freedom of speech and academic freedom. This does not prevent you from seeking support or reporting a concern through Report + Support. More information can be found in the Code of Practice on Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech.
The University of Kent takes reports of discrimination seriously. We encourage you to contact us for support and information about reporting an incident you may have experienced.
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I think I have experienced hate and/or discrimination
I think someone I know has experienced an hate incident or discrimination